Reviews by crookedhalo:

Pours a turbid brick/copper color with faint orange highlights. Fizzy khaki colored head rises and dies quickly leaving a little clinging to the side of the goblet. Big alcohol waft. Aromas of rum-soaked raisins, bananas foster, Belgian Special B malt, green apple, yeast, and a fair dosage of low-alpha hops. Alcohol evident in the taste upfront. Malty and sweet with a light nuttiness from the yeast. Lightly citric and faintly astringent in the finish. All the conglomerated flavors point towards amber, but I can't help thinking that it tastes too strong for 8%. The mouthfeel is big and chewy, yet the carbonation is slightly harsh.

I can handle a big beer, but I think I'd age it for a couple of years if I'm going to have another go at this one. I think it'll round out nicely.

T: Medium, honey like sweetness with a flavors of apricots blended with some light notes of black pepper. A low hops bitterness and light earthiness. The balance is somewhat sweet with a fruit and spicy aftertaste a medium sweet finish.

M: A medium to medium-full bodied beer with very strong carbonation. There is some noticable carbonic prickle on the tongue. Light alcohol warmth.

O: A fruity and spicy Strong Dark without any of the subtle dark malt flavors typical for the style. Think of a Belgian Pale done imperial style, if that's what you want to drink I think you enjoy this one.

11.2 oz bottle, pours a slighly hazed, amber orange body. The head is ivory colored, and is huge and billowing, settling down into a rocky, shaving cream coating of the glass. Lacing effect is very impressive.

Aroma is fruity sweet and spicy. Pears and McIntosh apples comprise the fruitiness, while coriander fruits the spiciness.

Mouthfeel features enormously fizzy, carbonation and a medium body.

Taste is nicely complex. Apples and oranges lend a slightly sweet fruity character. Spicy coriander stays in the background, as does a note of candy sugar. The musty yeast is just right for this. The finish is dry, with a lemony citrus note.

Complex flavors and a fine balance of malts, sugars, hops, and yeast make for very good drinkability.

Small 11.2 ounce bottle, "Ambrio 1471" on the label, expensive stuff at over $14 for a four pack! No freshness or bottled on info offered on the packaging. Pours a glowing dark honey shade of amber, Pretty clear, until the slightly yeasty final pour mixes things up. Lifts an initially huge tan head, this beauty very slowly settles down to meringue and then finally to a thick film and leaves behind all kinds of crazy spotty and knit lacing. Bubbles continue to rise to the top. Alcohol in the nose, also some raisins, confectionary sugars and tropical fruits, yum. Warming and tasty brew, plenty of fruity notes, also moderate rum, raisins, maple sugars, spicy yeasty notes, very nice, plenty of complexity and interest to go around. Well worth seeking out and savoring.

Poured into a Duvel tulip glass. Opaque amber-brown, with some reddishness to it. Poured slowly, it still produced an immense, pillowy head (inch and a half). Receded gradually, leaving generous patchy lacing. Looks great.

Label says amber-looks amber. Not much head. What there is dissipates quickly.

Smells, sweet, a little funky, maybe over riper fruit and yeast.

Taste- disappointing. Tastes like overripe plums or some other fruit. Later there is a bitterness like you licked an ash tray. I had to go back and lower the taste score. The farther I got into this bottle, the worse it gets. The taste is awful. Rotten plum then ashtray.

Great mouth feel if you can ignore the funky tart taste.

Overall-disappointment. On tap the Gouden Carolus Couvee Van de Kaiser Blau is my favorite beer of all time. The only IPA I like it Gouden Caroulus Hopsinjoor. I was expecting more from this. I really wished this was better. Would not ever want to taste this again.

I'll say this, this was an interesting review experience. It's a Belgian Ale that bills itself as an amber, which definitely caught my attention in the store.

This beer is very highly carbonated (it's refermented in the bottle so...). I could only pour less than half in the glass in the first go. Once I was able to get it all poured...

Appearance: Lots of head which clings and ripples up the side of the glass. Some of the head dissipates well along the sides, and the remainder remains thick forming a center crown. It looks like you'd expect a Belgian to look but when you hold it up to light that's when you can see the amber color come out and it's a bit less cloudy than many Belgians.

Smell: nothing real significant about the smell, not the rich experience you'd expect out of an 8% Belgian

Taste: Tries to balance between an amber ale and a strong Belgian, succeeds at neither. Fruity but bland for a Belgian, and not smooth like an amber. Though considering its flavor profile it hides the alcohol taste well.

Mouthfeel: Active on the tongue due to the carbonation

Drinkability: Fine, not what I was hoping

This is not a "bad" beer, but I rate beers relative to their price and their ambition. This one does not live up to what you'd expect out of a high end beer that should lend itself to a single-serving experience. I know I'm one of the few people who isn't at least fairly impressed by this beer, but there are so many Belgian options out there. So for the money or in the Belgian category, I'd recommend other options.

Pours a two finger rocky off-white head over a semi-hazy deep red-brown body. The head has excellent staying power, and leaves a web of lace coating the glass. Strong aromas of tart and sweet red berries, light pear and citric fruit, and miscellaneous Belgian yeasty goodness. Significant sweetness carries flavors of caramel, sweet orange and berry fruit. An earthy musty character lurks along with a mild cotton candy and marshmallow. A touch of pepper. Citric and earthy hop flavor and bitterness adds balance. Lively carbonation keeps the beer light on the tongue, yet the mouthfeel is smooth. Full bodied.

Yet another excellent example of the under-recognized Belgian ambree style. Wonderful complexity that as usual defies my ability to do it justice with words.

This beer pours a murky orange-tinged brown colour, with more foamy white head than I know what to do with (brava, refermentation en bouteille), which leaves a thin painting of lace as it slowly, slowly recedes. It smells of banana esters, booze, and a bit of funky yeast. The taste is barley malt, mild candy sugar, soft banana, tropical fruit, and a soft metallic alcohol edge. The carbonation is on the low side, the body well weighted, smooth, and a bit sticky, and it finishes sweet and sugary.

A very approachable, and drinkable strong Belgian ale, once you get past the onslaught of blocking foam from even the gentlest of pours...

Burnt orange in colour and very hazy. It's billowy beige head is massive and retentive, sticky to my glass in thick patches as it very slowly recedes. I can see lots of really tiny bubbles making their way up through the beer. It smells of bread and caramel, over ripe banana and apple, and booze. There's a notable alcohol presence in its aroma. Solid caramel malt base flavour, fruity esters taste like apple and raisin, with orange coming forward as it warms. There's very little of the banana that the nose hints at. Alcohol gives it a peppery kick. Feels quite light and dry, it's abundant carbonation is very fine and soft in the mouth. It's well crafted and balanced, and goes down pretty easy in spite of it's strength. I like the less balanced Gouden Carolus Classic better, but this is still a fine beer. I've been very impressed with the Het Anker offerings I've tried so far.

Updated label form what is shown here. No mention of 1471 until you read the back label.

Stamped 90/04/11. Didn't realize the Belgian April had so many days!

Served cool into a chalice. Ambrio has color that ranges from orange to red to brown as I look at it in the glass. The head is very thick and that's after a very careful pour down the side of the glass. It settles slowly and leaves a nice sheet of lace behind. Simply a great looking beer.

The aroma is very pleasant and, most likely seems to foreshadow the tastes to come. Rich malty sweetness, caramel, orchard fruits, a little musk and damp wood.

Flavor is indeed much the same. Dark dried fruits are added to the mix as are common in darker Belgian styles. Many layers of flavor but not all completely integrated. The alcohol seems stronger than 8% just based on the drying finish.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and fully carbonated. Maybe a little too much for the style.

And that brings me to my last point: I'm surprised this isn't considered a strong dark or dubbel. The color, aroma, and flavor all point to this being a darker style. Blind taste tested, I would've said it's a dubbel. Either way, it's a very good beer.

Deep glowing fiery, coppery red color, with a dirty-white head of foam that lasts and lasts...and lasts.

This has many traits of a Belgian holiday ale in the aroma. That's not a specific style, of course, more of a vibe, and this has all the orange, molasses, candi sugar and spice elements so many of those great Xmas ales have. An unsubtle nip of alcohol gives this a sherry-like twist.

Lots of tiny bubbles make this sing on the tongue, somewhat airy but plenty substantial, while just the right amount of stickiness makes the fruit/mint/spice/yeast finish ride through a long while.

Every now and then I wonder whether I'm ignoring the Belgian classics in favor of the more numerous new beers constantly being released in the States. I used to be all about Belgians and hardly anything else. I'm glad I'm no longer so narrow, but Gouden Carolus Ambrio 1471 is another reminder that nobody does it like the Belgians. I'm glad to have rediscovered the magic of this country's ales yet again.

I think this beer is seriously underrated! pours a deep amber color with significant head. very smooth and incredible belgian amber taste, unique to het anker. its got that taste detectable in all het anker strong dark(ers) but totally unique in its own right, very drinkable. fantastic with a good cohiba.